Milwaukee County

Supervisors denounce move to cut their pay, County Board budget

A draft bill aimed at drastically cutting the pay for Milwaukee County supervisors and the budget for the County Board was denounced by supervisors Tuesday as an attempted power grab and an effort spawned by a "personal vendetta" of County Executive Chris Abele.

The measure before state lawmakers would concentrate power in the county executive by limiting time and resources for the board, said Supervisor Theo Lipscomb Sr. That would disrupt the balance of power between the executive and the board and "silence the voice of the legislative branch of county government," Lipscomb said.

Abele's inability to work well with the County Board led him to push for a measure for a binding referendum to cut supervisors' pay by 70% to $15,000 a year or less and cut the board's $6.6 million budget by 85% to about $1 million, according to County Board Chairwoman Marina Dimitrijevic.

"Abele can't seem to figure out working with others," she said, accusing him of using the issue out of a "personal vendetta" to punish supervisors.

Abele disputed Dimitrijevic's claim he was backing the measure to retaliate against the board.

"It's not a personal thing," Abele said. "This is just letting people vote on the issue. I don't see much downside in that."

Abele and the 18-member County Board have clashed on a series of issues this year, with the board rejecting Abele's plan to have the Milwaukee Police Department take over lakefront and other park patrols from the Sheriff's Department; denying his request to have at least one county lobbyist report to him; and forcing Abele's economic development director to abide by the county residency rule or quit. The director, Brian Taffora, chose to quit late last month.

Only those financially well-off would be able to afford running for the County Board if the proposed legislation is adopted, Dimitrijevic said. The concerns of racial minorities, the poor and others would likely not be represented if the board pay and budget get chopped, she said.

State Rep. Joe Sanfelippo (R-West Allis) has confirmed he plans to introduce the bill early in the new legislative session, with the aim of quick passage so the changes could go before voters in an April binding referendum. He said Tuesday some details of the bill could still change. Sanfelippo was a supervisor before his election to the Assembly last fall.

Sanfelippo, who pushed unsuccessfully last year for the board to cut its own pay, has said a part-time board would better focus on major policy issues and stop micromanaging. Lipscomb said the job of supervisor is complex and couldn't be done well working only part time.

Milwaukee County supervisors are paid $50,679 a year, by far the highest in the state. As chairwoman, Dimitrijevic gets $71,412. Milwaukee County has the only full-time County Board in the state.

Abele said he backs the measure because it would save Milwaukee County $5 million a year. And by cutting the board to part-time status, it would match all other county boards in the state, he said.

Abele dismissed the idea that only well-to-do candidates would run for the board if it became part time.

"Are you telling me all 71 (other) county boards are filled with rich people?" he said. "They don't seem to be having trouble finding people to run, and people aren't having trouble getting their voices heard."

The draft bill would require legislative approval by late February to meet its timeline to appear on the April ballot. The County Board salary and budget cuts would take effect Jan. 1, 2014, under the draft legislation.

Abele's support for a state law to create an elected county comptroller in late 2011 also ruffled feathers among supervisors, who opposed the idea. That legislation was passed and signed into law by Gov. Scott Walker. A dozen suburban communities backed converting the County Board to part time and also favored slashing the board size in advisory referendums in April.

State Sen. Jon Erpenbach (D-Middleton) had harsh words for Sanfelippo's proposal, saying legislators should not dictate how local governments are run.

"I wonder how the guy would feel if Congress came in and said we're going to cut your pay in half and you're not going to be able to get any benefits but you have to do the same amount of work," Erpenbach said.

He described as "big bullies" lawmakers who wanted to dictate change for how local governments are run.

Rob Henken, president of the nonpartisan Public Policy Forum, said he couldn't take a stand on the legislation but noted having a public discussion on the structure of Milwaukee County government was a positive thing.

Patrick Marley of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.